The Bicester School

We have further expanded our schools division as academy sponsor of The Bicester School (formerly known as Bicester Community College).

The comprehensive school, which has nearly 1,000 pupils across the full Year 7 to 13 age range, relaunched with academy status following a period of community consultation.

In March 2014, members of the school’s Interim Executive Board took the decision to pursue academy status to secure the long-term success of the school. The board chose Activate Learning as its academy sponsor.

The change in status followed a significant turnaround at the school, under the leadership of new headteacher Tony Rushworth. In May, Bicester Community College (as the school was then known) was removed from special measures and found to be good across all areas. GCSE results have gone up by an impressive 23% in comparison with last year's results, with 63 per cent of pupils achieving the top GCSE grades including English and maths. A level results are also strong, with 100% overall achievement rate (up 5% from 2014).

The partnership with The Bicester School represents our first move into academy schooling, having been granted multi-academy status by the Department for Education. We believe it will offer students enhanced opportunities to pursue educational pathways matched to their interests and career ambitions. Together with the development of Bicester Technology Studio, it provides a solid framework of educational choice for Bicester.